Tollway Speeds Go Up May 11

Beginning May 11, the speed limit on most of the Illinois tollway system will rise to 65 miles an hour to bring it into line with the new speed limit on the state`s rural interstate highways.

The board of directors of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority voted unanimously Thursday to bump up the speed limit by 10 m.p.h. on the Northwest Tollway (Int. Hwy. 90) from west of Ill. Hwy. 31 near Elgin to the Wisconsin border; and on the Tri-State Tollway (I-94 and 294) from Ill. Hwy. 22 in Lincolnshire to the Wisconsin border.

The board also tentatively approved an increase in the speed limit on the East-West Tollway (Ill. Hwy. 5) from Ill. Hwy. 59 near Naperville to the end of the tollway near Rock Falls, in the Quad Cities area.

Tollway authority executive director Thomas H. Morsch Jr. said, however, that the new limit would not go into effect immediately on the Tri-State between Rte. 22 (Half Day Road) and Ill. Hwy. 132 (Grand Avenue in Gurnee) because of construction work. The current speed limit of 45 m.p.h. will be enforced until Sept. 30, when road resurfacing is scheduled for completion.

``We feel it is advisable to change the limits to comply with federal law and to coordinate our speed limits with the state`s limits,`` Morsch told the board.

With the higher limit will come increased enforcement by the Illinois State Police, Morsch said. Troopers will be reassigned from other duties, such as enforcement of weight limits, for a month after the new limit becomes effective.

States have been rushing to raise speed limits since Congress in March overrode President Reagan`s veto of a federal highway bill that included a provision allowing speeds of up to 65 m.p.h. on rural interstate highways.

Because the law specifies that the higher limits can apply only to interstate highways, Morsch advised the board to give tentative approval to the change on the East-West Tollway, which is an interstate-quality roadway carrying a state-highway designation.

Morsch told the board that the tollway staff is seeking an interstate designation for the East-West Tollway, but that a decision will probably not be made before the end of May. Until then, the speed limit on the East-West will remain 55 m.p.h.

The application for the federal designation is being handled by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), which has petitioned the Federal Highway Administration and a nationwide association of state traffic officials for the change.

Bob Jones, an IDOT official, said that before the application is approved, the highway administration must confirm that the tollway is an interstate-quality limited-access road and that it would make a logical addition to the interstate highway system.

The responsibility for numbering the tollway falls to the association of traffic officials. Jones said the state has requested that the tollway be designated Int. Hwy. 88.

Morsch said the posting of new speed-limit signs should be completed by May 15. He estimated that the 70 new signs will cost $10,000.